Department of Psychiatry

Irving Harris Program in Child Development
and Infant Mental Health

Community-Based Doula Training Program

The Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health has developed a Community-Based Doula Program. This program provides community-based doula training and conducts a modified replication study of the Chicago Health Connection’s original 4-year community-based doula pilot project. The Harris Program will also become a regional training center of the Chicago Health Connection for extended community-based Doula interventions.

An intervention and replication study is currently being conducted at The Haven Therapeutic Community, a residential treatment facility for women addicted to substances of abuse. This replication project, The Haven Peer Support Doula Project, involves training successful graduates from The Haven, with at least two years of personal recovery from substances, to become community-based or “Peer Support” doulas. These doulas will further enhance the services and support provided to the pregnant women and mothers with young children who are in addiction treatment at The Haven, assisting their clients through the prenatal period, during delivery, and up to the child's first 18 months.

The goals of this project include expected positive outcomes on three levels. First, the women in treatment will receive extended doula support for up to 18 months, providing a stable, supportive relationship with a peer trained in labor and delivery support, breastfeeding, child care, child development, and parenting. This intervention will positively impact the health of the mother, including the reduction of medical interventions and complications during and after delivery, as well as enhanced sobriety and improved parenting outcomes.

Second, as a result of the trained doulas’ knowledge and relationship with the mothers, we expect to see improved delivery outcomes for the infants as well as improved child developmental and parent-child relationship outcomes. Third, as a result of working in a recovering community, the doulas will benefit from stronger recovery outcomes for themselves, as well as new job skills, economic enhancement, and improved parenting knowledge.

University of Colorado Harris Community Doula Program Team

Karen A. Frankel, Ph.D.
Toni L. Backman, Ph.D.
Stacey R. Bromberg, Ph.D.
Dorotha Cicchinelli, B.A.S.W., M.N.M.
Kelly Stainback-Tracy, M.P.H., P.T.
Daniele Wolff, B.A. C.A.C. III

For additional information, see the Chicago Health Connection web site.